Loading Wagons (Farming Simulator 17)
A Loading Wagon (or Forage Wagon) is a type of in Farming Simulator 17. It can only be filled with a limited variety of materials related to and the production of . The main advantage of a Loading Wagon is that it can collect its own material straight from on the ground, without the need for any third-part tools. A Loading Wagon looks and works very similar to a , with the exception of a wheeled device at the front (called a "Pickup Head") that can be lowered to the ground and activated. When active, the Pickup Head will automatically suck in any Piles it encounters, as long as they are of a valid material type. Loading Wagons can pick up and hold , , . Despite also being able to carry and , they cannot pick those materials up from the ground. Loading Wagons are used to quickly collect a large quantity of materials, particularly after mowing Grass or after a has created a swath of Straw. To speed up the loading process, it is possible to use a to arrange the material in thin straight lines for the Loading Wagon to pick up in a single pass. Farming Simulator 17 offers 4 models of Loading Wagons. They differ from one another in Price, Capacity, and Weight. Additionally, there are small differences in Horsepower Consumption and Work Width, which have a minor impact on effectiveness. Loading Wagons also compete with , which can perform a similar task. List of Loading Wagons Below is a list of all 4 models of Loading Wagons found in Farming Simulator 17. They can all be found in the "Loading Wagons" category at the store. List of Valid Cargo Types Loading Wagons can only carry a limited variety of cargo types: : : : : : Of these, a Loading Wagon can only pick up Grass, Hay and Straw, using its automated pickup header. It cannot pick up Chaff or Silage that are already on the ground - those must be picked up and dumped into it by another machine (e.g. a with a ). Loading a Wagon :Main article: Loading Containers Loading Wagons can be loaded "normally" by dumping cargo into them from another machine or storage facility. Additionally, and more importantly, Loading Wagons can load themselves. They do so by picking up materials straight from left on the ground by other machines, particularly and . Normal Container Loading Loading Wagons are very similar to all other , and can be loaded in most of the ways described in the article on Containers. Note that some of the methods in that article are not applicable to Loading Wagons due to the limited types of cargo they can carry. For example, Loading Wagons cannot be used with , since they cannot carry any materials. Pickup Loading The main advantage of a Loading Wagon is that it can pick up materials straight from the field, after they had been dumped there previously by another vehicle. It can only pick up of , , and . To pick up any cargo, the Loading Wagon's pickup head must be activated and lowered to the ground. While working, the pickup head will automatically suck in any Pile it touches, as long as the Pile contains materials of the valid types listed above. It must still conform to the rules laid out in the article on Loading Containers, of course. One use of this function is to pick up after it has been mowed (or , if the grass had been processed with a after mowing). leave trails of grass on the field, which the Loading Wagon can be dragged over. Note that Mowers tend to leave a lot of mess in their wake, so it is generally better to use a on the field first, to arrange the grass/hay into neat lines. This will mean fewer passes with the Loading Wagon to collect everything. is left behind a when it cuts or (assuming you have the "Create Straw Swath" option turned on for that harvester). As with Grass (see prev. paragraph), Straw is left in long lines behind the harvester, and a Loading Wagon can be dragged over those lines to pick up the material. Straw Swaths tend to be neatly-arranged and well-spaced (especially when using a larger Harvester), so they don't typically need to be Windrowed before pickup. Despite the fact that it can also carry and , a Loading Wagon cannot pick them up from the ground. These materials must be dumped into the Loading Wagon, as though it were a . Towing a Wagon Loading Wagons tend to be a little heavier than comparatively-sized Tippers. This means that you need a somewhat stronger or other vehicle to tow them. However, because the types of cargo a Loading Wagon can carry (esp. Grass, Hay and Straw) are very light, a full Loading Wagon is typically not much heavier than an empty one. As a result, a Medium Tractor should be able to tow a Loading Wagon of any size with some comfort. Of course, Loading Wagons are not simple trailers - you'll probably want to activate the pickup head at some point to pick up materials from the field. This requires a power transfer from the towing vehicle to the Loading Wagon. Only certain types of vehicles in the game can provide power to a trailer, including Tractors and several small varieties of . Other vehicles, such as , can tow the Loading Wagon but cannot activate it. While the pickup head is active, the Loading Wagon pulls some Horsepower from the towing vehicle, weakening it. The larger the wagon, the more power it draws. As a result, a Medium Tractor that might be able to tow a full Loading Wagon comfortably may not be able to tow it as comfortably while the pickup header is activated. If you're using a large Loading Wagon, consider getting a Large-class Tractor to pull it while it's working. Loading Straw behind a Harvester A few of the smaller models can tow a Loading Wagon and provide it with power to use the pickup header. This allows the harvester to pick up its own Swath, removing the need to make a second pass after the harvest to collect all the straw that's been left behind. This can save a lot of time and effort. In the base game, most harvesters can tow a Loading Wagon, but only the and have the ability to give it power. These are very small harvesters, however, and do not have a lot of power to give. If the Harvester is also fitted with a large and power-hungry , it might not have enough power left to both tow and operate the Loading Wagon. In such an event, the harvester will become sluggish or even immobile. Therefore, when using a Loading Wagon behind your harvester, make sure to get the smallest wagon model for the job, and the smallest Header you can reasonably use without running out of Horsepower. When done correctly, this setup can save you a lot of time, and increase the profits from any or harvest by a few thousand dollars (or alternatively, provide you with ample Straw for other purposes). Unloading a Wagon :Main article: Unloading Containers Loading Wagons are capable of dumping their own cargo out - there is no need (or ability) for any other machine to unload them. Dumping is the only way to unload a Loading Wagon. In Farming Simulator 17, other than driving a Loading Wagon to a designated unloading spot like a or to be unloaded, you can also dump the cargo directly on the ground to create a of material. This is also the method used when dumping and into . For more details about dumping, read the article on Containers. Comparison with Pickup Headers A using a Loading Wagon is functionally very similar to a using a . Both machines can pick up Grass and Hay straight from the ground into a container. Despite the similarity, there are a few minor differences between these two methods that can give an advantage to one or the other. Both methods might be useful to you, in different situations. Loading Wagon Advantages * Cheaper: To use a Pickup Header, you need to buy the header itself, a Forage Harvester to operate it, and a container to hold the materials. A Loading Wagon, on the other hand, can be operated by most vehicles - particularly - and you probably already have at least one. This makes the Loading Wagon option significantly cheaper. * Can Cut Grass: With a Loading Wagon attached to the rear of your Tractor, you can simply attach a in the front and cut the for the Loading Wagon to collect immediately behind you. This sort of combination is not possible at all with a Forage Harvester / Pickup Header. Pickup Header Advantages * Slightly Wider: The Working Width of all Pickup Header models in the game are between 3.0 and 3.1 meters, while Loading Wagons have a Working Width of only 2.4 to 2.6 meters. This is an advantage of at least 20%. It might not sound like much, but a little extra width can help when picking up material that isn't perfectly arranged in a neat line. * Can fill Tippers: A Forage Harvester can tow any type of container behind it. Therefore, unlike a Loading Wagon (which fills itself), it can fill a , or even a train of Tippers. Some tipper models are quite larger than any Loading Wagon, allowing you to pick up a lot more Grass or Hay in one go before your container fills up. * Better Precision: Since a Pickup Header is mounted on the front of a Forage Harvester, it is easy to control what you pick up, and easy to back up and clear "that one last bit". Loading Wagons, on the other hand, are attached to the back of a Tractor - it is much harder to control where the Loading Wagon's working head will go, easier to "miss a spot", and much harder to reverse and clean up any missed spots. Category:Farming Simulator 17 Loading Wagons